Mayor Emanuel a golf lover -- in a way

Mayor Rahm Emanuel speaks with reporters about the the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah Country Club on Saturday.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel speaks with reporters about the the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah Country Club on Saturday. (Nuccio DiNuzzo/Tribune Photo)

Teddy Greenstein, Tribune reporter

Mayor Rahm Emanuel loves golf. Not to play. Perhaps not even to watch.

But while serving as Senior Advisor to President Bill Clinton, Emanuel capitalized on the president's golf jones.

During Saturday's visit to Medinah for the Ryder Cup, Emanuel said he would get "all the answers I needed" while Clinton practiced on the White House putting green.

"Every Sunday he would play," Emanuel recalled. "I'd get his schedule and would go out and literally get all my work done for the entire week -- all the yeses. Always talk to your boss when he's on the putting green. You can get a lot of your work done your way."

The mayor's brother, talent agent Ari Emanuel, not only plays, he's a member at the prestigious Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles.

"I played with him, but I don't think he would consider it playing," Emanuel said. "It's not my strong suit. What I do to torment him is I take him fly-fishing, which is my sport. I throw a hook into his head just to pay him back for being a younger brother."

For Ari's 40th birthday, Rahm got him a spot in Clinton's foursome at a course in San Francisco: "I said, 'This is your birthday gift for 40 -- all the way to 60. You're going to play golf with the president."